Black Country Living Museum

Now that the technology has taken over, there is no time left to be old.

I mean old in knowledge, old in advising, old in thoughts. Sensibility turns around photo editing, faded audio, an ostentatious selfie. The sensibility has changed but not the shape.

The faster the world moves the more we stay still, the more we visit the world and the more we look for places of memory.. not to forget the origins.

I have had the opportunity to visit the “Black Country Living Museum” in Dudley several times.

It is a place that takes you a little back in time, allows you to live less polluted years, honest air and traditions. This open-air museum is a must in the Black Country area just outside Birmingham. As soon as you cross the threshold you will immediately notice its originality.

A perfectly preserved village, including school, accommodation, shops, cinema, mine, steam mill and many shops represented by characters dressed in traditional costumes.

Excellent restaurant service, as well as the fish and chips shop.. divine!

Inside this museum you can attend practical demonstrations of trades, such as the blacksmith, or you can participate to direct experiences such as sitting in class with a real teacher who will make you do exercises on the slate.

And again, the suggestion of entering the mine will be another of those unforgettable experiences. Equipped with an helmet, it will be possible to enter a real coal mine! If you pay attention to the words of the guide, you will fully enter into that circumstance as complicated as life in the mine, in which “natural” light was a mirage and clean air an utopia.

Sensitive souls will perceive the coughing of the workers and the black powder that covered them.. in an induced skin change. To those who want to live an experience of other times, I highly recommend this museum, money well spent!